Russia's foreign minister has denounced a dossier on President-elect Donald Trump compiled by a former British spy as a "rude provocation."

Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday contemptuously referred to the dossier's author as a "runaway swindler from MI6" without citing his name. The dossier was compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British spy who served in Moscow in the early 1990s.

The dossier claimed that Russia has evidence that Trump engaged in sexual activities while on a trip to Moscow and alleged that members of his inner circle met secretly with Russian officials and that Russia conducted hacking and disinformation campaigns to affect the U.S. election. Trump has rejected the allegations as "fake news" and "phony stuff."

Lavrov described the claims as part of "absurdities" and "fakes" aimed at hurting Trump.